Grand Hammer Tails

Stan Kroeker stan@pianoexperts.mb.ca
Thu, 18 Nov 1999 11:32:22 -0600


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Greetings from the rapidly chilling Canadian prairie!

In the past year, I have encountered at least half a dozen 'name-brand'
grand pianos that had replacement hammers installed.  No tapering, tailing,
coving and downweights consequently measured in the 75 - 95 gram range.
These were O.E.M. parts with the correct model name stamped on hammer no. 1.
Peculiar thing is that we had some of the original hammers (on shanks) which
had much less felt mass and shorter moldings and when samples were
re-installed, touchweight measurements were in the acceptable range.

I am preparing to reduce hammer weight by the usual methods but feel the
tails could be shortened by as much as 1/4".  However, I believe this must
be done with due consideration to the action geometry(?)  I understand that
at point of letoff, the end of the hammer tail should be about 1/16" above
the top end of the backcheck, but on these pianos it could be a chicken/egg
scenario.  What if the backchecks are incorrectly installed?

What is the correct relationship of hammer tail length to, say, hammer
flange center height or any other fixed reference point?

Regards,

Stan Kroeker
Registered Piano Technician
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